If the Annapurna region is the apple pie trek then the Langtang trek is definitely the cheese trek, with cheese factories dotting the trail and tempting Westerners with yak cheese either well aged or younger in an Italian mozzarella style. We of course indulged ourselves in all the varieties and carried cheese with us to have for scenic lunches along the trail.
The trek started with an incredibly windy and slow bus ride north from Kathmandu. Eight hours later we arrived in Syabru Besi. A lama from Kathmandu was arriving that evening and the locals were lining the main street into town in their finest clothes excited to receive their blessing.
The first day of the hike we opted for the less travelled route, taking a "short cut" that led us 1,000 meters straight up the ridge to Sherpa Guan, an idyllic village perched on the hill with just a handful of houses and terraced fields surrounding the settlement. We were the only ghoras in town and drank homemade chang (fermented rice that serves as local beer). Curiously enough the chang was also the recommended cure for rubbing on a tic bite that Amanda received earlier that day.
The following day led back to the main trail where we joined the organized tour groups and their hordes of support. We followed the Langtang river valley which gently climbed up into dense rhododendron forest draped by moss and covered with ferns. Soon we were into fir and larch country and reached the heavily grazed yak rangeland around Kanjin Gompa.
Kanjin Gompa is settled at the base of Langtang Lirung. It almost seems like you can reach out and touch the massive glacier that carves down the mountain into the valley. We found a nice, small lodge to stay in - surprisingly enough with a couple of Seattlites and Alaskans - and spent a few days exploring the valley. We climbed up Kanjin Ri, a 15,650 foot peak directly behind the village, for amazing windswept views of the glacial bowl carved by Langtang and the several snow capped peaks surrounding us. Prayer flags danced as we looked north to the mountains in Tibet. We spent another day hiking further up the valley past derelict yak huts and incredibly large boulders. The trail wound along the tranquil blue river unveiling more majestic peaks as we turned every corner.
We also visited our first cheese factory and bought a half kilo of aged yak cheese that a local cheesemonger cut off of a round for us. On our first night in town we forgot some laundry we had put out to dry and a yak ate quite a few of our socks. Sort of a drag, but at least they were eaten by a magnificent and unique animal, with expensive taste (eating silk socks and all).
Hiking back out of the valley towards Gosiankund we followed the same trail, missing our turn and taking another local trail straight up the ridge. A good 3,500 muddy feet higher we were pretty exhausted and came out of the bushes close to our destination of Thulo Syabru. The next day was another 3,500 foot climb to Sing Gompa, home to our third cheese factory visit and a large gompa decorated with tantric images. The trail climbed further up through fir trees along a ridge where we met our first bits of snow and frost, hidden in the shades of the thick forest. Parts of these forests are said to be "haunted" by the locals which may mean spirits or may be a ploy to keep the forests of the national park protected.
After three days of some serious climbing we reached a minor pass which dropped us into the Gosiankund lake basin. Fog hugged the craggy exposed rock of the sharp cliffs surrounding us, covered in bright red heather and lime green lichen. It reminded us of Washington State's Enchantment Lakes. We stayed at a small ramshackle lodge between Gosiankunda and Bhairav lakes, huddled up around the cast iron stove in the dining room. It was extremely cold which prevented us from doing much exploring, but whenever the sun peeked out we would rush forth to get better views of the stark high alpine scenery.
On our way out the following morning we passed by a Sadhu who had been sitting by the lake for three years, living off alms of food from trekkers and the lodges. The lakes are sacred and dedicated to Shiva and are a popular pilgrimage site for Hindus. The story goes that a poison was released that would destroy the world, so Shiva drank it to save everyone. It was so strong that it burned even the throat of the god and he had to strike the land where Gosiankund now sits to release a flood of water to cool his thirst. The landscape here was so majestic and striking that one can understand why it would be attached with religious significance.
It was an easy hike up to Laurabina Pass and a long way down to Ghopte. The clouds enveloped the hillsides as we walked for hours through snow and ice, climbing up and down invisible ridges. After some hours of passing by scenery that looked nearly identical in fog that limited our sight to a 20 foot circle around us, we began to wonder if we would ever reach our destination or if we had inadvertently slipped into some strange land looped back again upon itself interminably. We finally made it and in the morning saw the continuous folding hills that make up the region of Helambu.
We began our day by crossing yet another pass in the frost and snow. As we crossed the summit we got a good taste of sun for the first time in days and spent some time stripping off dusty layers of clothes to soak it up with our white wrinkled skin. The rest of the day was a long descent down to a river valley and then back up to Melamchi Goan, the first true village complete with fields and delicious vegetables that we had not seen in days. We sampled the village's trademark dish, called Rildo, that consisted of a tasty broth with potato dumplings and a type of dried yak curd to thicken it up.
Helambu is made up of many small villages that are able to be seen from each other, but because of the steep hills separated by river valleys cascading from the glaciers above, take about a day to walk from one to the next. The people that live here call themselves Hyolmo, and as we walked through their tidy villages' fields of plump golden wheat ready to harvest and large healthy vegetables, we were stricken by how peacefully idyllic the region was. The guesthouses were also very interesting culturally. They were family owned and the didis (female owner/operators) would cook meals sitting down in front of a low wood fire and periodically get up to mix the yak butter, salt, and tea for Tibetan tea in large cylindrical churns.
We stayed in Tarkye Goan and then Shermatang, passing many old Buddhist stupas of stone covered by moss and some with trees growing out of them as well as well kept Gompas (Buddhist monasteries) surrounded by prayer flags and wheat fields. In Shermatobg we met an American who had been a Peace Corps volunteer there over 30 years ago and had returned to visit her old friends there. It was interesting to hear her stories of how things had stayed the same and what had changed.
On our final day we hiked alternatively along a road interrupted by many landslides and paths cutting across the switchbacks going steeply down the hillside to the main road back to Kathmandu. We overnighted in Melamchi Bazaar where we ate a massive amount of momos and caught an early morning bus back to the congestion, smog, and hot showers of Kathmandu. We've been spending our days eating ourselves back to a normal BMI and splurging on the delicious western fare that the big city has to offer.
Today is Thanksgiving and in the American spirit we have been having a typical relaxing American day, waking up to a small breakfast in bed followed by an American style brunch at a rooftop restaurant. We then window shopped our way through Thamel trying on some down jackets buy not really buying anything which is probably un-American. We are now sitting on the rooftop garden of our hotel having a beer and discussing our dinner options, which we know will be a let down compared to the heartfelt family feasts that we will miss at home (save us some pie!). After dinner we will venture out to the Nepali cinema to catch the new James Bond movie, and after we will hopefully find some delicious dessert on the way home. On this day of giving thanks we are proud and thankful that there is a majority of sane Americans that went to the polls this month and re-elected Obama. We are also greatly thankful to our friends and families that continue to send their love and support to the east. We miss you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.
Now where's the Turkey?
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| Buses piled high with passengers ply the one lane windy roads towards the Tibet border. |
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| The Kathmandu Lama and his entourage visit Syabru Besi |
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| The smallest lizard ever! We had to get a picture of this guy. |
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| Hemlocks tower overhead as we make our way up along the Langtang river valley. |
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| A very nontraditional style of cheese, made like mozzarella and hung to dry for 6 months. Langtang village cheese factory. |
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| A very majestic white horse grazes the high country on the way to Kanjin Gompa. |
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| A sunglass shot view of the mountains across the river valley, as seen from Kanjin Ri. |
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| Bagged that peak - on the summit of Kanjin Ri at 15,650 feet! |
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| More amazing views from Kanjin Ri. |
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| A very beautiful day hike up the Langtang river valley. |
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| Kanjin Gompa is a fairly large village, mostly consisting of lodges and handicraft shops directed towards tourists. It even has a helipad for those too lazy to walk up the valley. |
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| Yak, Yak, Yak, Yak. |
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| We passed some very impressive mani walls on the way up (and down) the valley. |
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| Heading into the Gosiankund region. This type of chorten is seen all along the trail, especially in view points and entrances to villages. |
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| Prayer flags flap towards the high mountains of Tibet (as seen in the background). |
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| Colin stops for a photo on the ridge towards Laurabina. |
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| Up and into the bowl of the sacred lakes, the scenery was rugged with strewn boulders and clouds hugging every corner. |
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| A small Ganesh shrine by one of the high points in Gosiankunda. |
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| Bhairav Lake |
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| Gosiankunda Lake, you can almost see the small village in the top right corner where we spent the night. |
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| Heading towards the pass! |
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| Yet another high alpine lake close to Laurabina Pass. |
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| Helambu region and one of it's many beautiful villages. |
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| In Shermatang they dried radish in the sun. Helambu |
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| Stupas and gompas dotted the trail in the Helambu region. |
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| Back in Kathmandu we visit Snowman, one of the last standing cafes from the 60's that serves up delicious cakes and caramel creme! |
